Illinois Senate Floor Debate — May 1, 2008

5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 Thank you, Mr. President. Point of personal privilege.

Thanks, Mr. President. I’m happy to have a special guest with me today, Philip Farmer. Philip is a good friend of mine. Lives just a little bit south of my district, but has been down here all week with a group called TeenPact. They actually used our Chamber on Monday. It’s a wonderful organization of high schoolers that come here -- down and spend a week learning about government and being involved in -- the government process down here. So, Philip is one of the leaders of that organization. I’m very thankful to have him down here tonight. Please give a welcome to Philip Farmer.

6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 Yes, I -- a point of personal privilege. I was going to introduce a -- a friend of ours, Randy Wells, who was just sitting in the gallery behind us here. He’s one of the stars on the Sam Madonia Show on 1450, here in the morning, but it looks like he left. So, I -- I was going to recognize the fact that he took the time to be with us here today.

Thank you, Mr. President. Would you let the record show that Senator Lauzen is in Philadelphia on State business today? And also the Republicans would like to have about a fifteen- minute caucus in Leader Watson’s Office.

9  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 Thank -- thank you, Mr. President. Would the record please show that I voted -- tried to vote Yes on the bill, but the key wasn’t turned on?

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you very much. Here we are, we have an opportunity to do something very, very meaningful. The first time we’ve had to do something meaningful here in a long, long time. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your opportunity to really and truly change State government. You come down here; you tell your constituents that you’re here to 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 change the world. You come down here and say that you want to make life better for the people you represent. You come down here and you say you want to be responsive and responsible. Well, this is it, Ladies and Gentlemen. This is it. H -- or, SJRCA is identical to HJRCA 28, which was sponsored by my colleague, Representative Jack Franks, in the House. SJRCA 70 that is before us here does four things, generally. Number one, it allows for judges -- it does four things differently than S - - than the House resolution. Number one, it allows for judges and salaried elected officials of units of local government would be -- would be covered, would be included. Number two, it specifies that the intent affidavit to recall must be filed by an elector of the district of the person being recalled. Number three, judges cannot have an intent affidavit filed for recall unless the Judicial Inquiry Board has filed a complaint against that judge, and that’s very important. And number four, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor will be recalled together. I’m delighted to join my colleague, Senator Hendon, in promoting this piece of legislation. We have some intent, legislative intent, that needs to be read into the record, and I’m happy to answer some questions. Let me lay out a few of the salient features, a summary of the time line of the recall election. We can get into details and -- and this is the summary. It is as follows: Number one, to initiate a recall, a filing of an affidavit with the State Board of Elections providing notice of intent to circulate petitions to recall an officer or a member. That’s the first step. Number two, petitions must be filed within a hundred and sixty days after filing the intent affidavit. Number three, any objection may be made to the 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 recall petition within forty-five days after they are filed. Number four, successor candidates have forty days after the recall petitions are filed to file their own petitions. A nominating petition may be objected to. Number five, State Board of Elections shall certify the recall question and validate nominating petitions for successor candidates within a hundred and five days after the recall petition is filed. Number six, the recall and successor election shall be held not less than sixty days and no more than a hundred days after the date of certification of the recall petition. With respect to the issue, I know that judges have registered an objection and their opposition to this provision. With all due respect to the judges, we have gone to great lengths to preserve the independence of the judiciary. There is a provision in this bill that -- that empowers the Judicial Inquiry Board. They serve as sort of the gatekeeper. And -- and it -- a recall proceeding can only be initiated against a judge upon a complaint by the Judicial Inquiry Board. And let me explain that, Ladies and Gentlemen. People who appear in court, attorneys that may have interaction with judges, they can file a complaint against a judge and that complaint is filed with the Judicial Inquiry Board. Judicial Inquiry Board can respond to that complaint in a number of different ways. They may investigate it. After an investigation, they may issue a complaint against the judge. They can also come up with their own disposition. A complaint against the judge could be the fifth level of disposition. They could -- they could do a -- a reprimand or they could do a warning or they could do a no action. As a practical matter, complaints against judges is a 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 very, very rare thing, and the complaint that we’re talking about that would -- that would be necessary to initiate a recall petition is a complaint issued by the Judicial Inquiry Board, not a complaint by some citizen or attorney. So, please be mindful that nothing can proceed without the assent of the Judicial Inquiry Board, which is a body that is influenced and comprised of people that serve at the pleasure of the courts. Secondly, I -- I have some legislative intent. If somebody wants to ask me a question about what would be the signature requirement to file petitions to recall a judge, I’d like to answer that question, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. President. To the constitutional amendment: First of all, I want to thank President Jones. There’s a lot of ways he could have killed this and one of them would have been to not bring this up. I haven’t had many proud days on this Floor in the last couple years, but this is one of ‘em. Senator Jones, I am thankful for you allowing this issue to be brought up. Whether or not you vote against it or not, at least we’ll 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 all be held accountable for what we do here today. Ladies and Gentlemen, I can only tell you, as I travel through this State and I have visited with people in my district, this is a no- brainer. Ninety percent of the people of Illinois believe that they ought to have the right to recall a Governor, whoever that is. This will pass overwhelmingly if we give it to the voters. The people of Illinois understand that there is a process of removal under impeachment. But they also are frustrated that we don’t afford them the same opportunity that states like California and other states do to remove a elected official who is incompetent. Whether or not you believe Governor Blagojevich is incompetent or not, this simply gives the people the right they deserve. At first, I will tell you, I was reluctant. I’m always reluctant to change the Constitution. Yes, it’s a document that we all agree should be changed when necessary, but with caution. But when you look at other states in this nation that offer this privilege to their citizens, it has not been abused. And the people of Illinois deserve our trust that they will not abuse this. You may be against recalling Governor Blagojevich, but that is still not a reason to vote against this constitutional amendment. I ask you to represent the people you were elected to represent and vote to give them a voice to recall incompetent elected officials. Thank you.

The whole process is empowering people, Senator Raoul. And to gather the hundreds and thousands of signatures that are going to be required to put this question before the voters - the -- the effort that is necessary to actually remove a governor -- I -- I mean, the experience in eighteen other states, this has been used very, very sparingly. So, the -- the rather flippant example that you use is -- is really a -- is really a -- it’s just silly and irrelevant.

You’re darn right. There -- no way a recall petition drive and proceeding could move forward without there being meaningful and significant cause and causes, incidents of corruption and incompetence. Those are issues that will be debated as the petitions are circulated. You’re darn right there’s going to be a -- there’s a cause requirement and we got plenty of cause here in Illinois.

There’s a -- there’s a uniform threshold and it’s twenty percent of the votes cast for that office in that particular district. So the -- the actual numbers could be different, but it’s fair and it’s -- the -- the threshold is the same, in that it’s twenty percent.

I -- I don’t know the Judicial Inquiry Board has ever removed a judge from the bench, but I could be wrong on that. Number two, there’s time considerations. And number three, the Judicial Inquiry Board maintains the ultimate discretion and -- and -- and can make decisions whether or not there would ever be a judge exposed to a recall proceeding. So they have ultimate independence and they have ultimate discretion here. And I think that preserves the independence of the judiciary.

Thank you, Mr. President. To the resolution, please. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate, the question before us today, with all due respect to some of the previous speakers, is not whether or not this amendment, this proposed amendment, is perfect in its writing or is good policy. The question really before this Body is not whether this amendment would negate the 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 principle of one man and one vote, because, with all due respect to the previous speaker, it clearly does not. The question before this Body today is whether or not all of us are willing to let the people have a say on amending the Constitution. You can all go out - if this gets on the ballot - you can all go out and say, I think it’s a bad idea or I think it’s a good idea. The question today is whether or not you are afraid to let them have their opinion and have their say at the polls in November. Ladies and Gentlemen, the temperature across Illinois insofar as the voters’ patience is going up a little bit every day. Another story about deficit budgets, another headline about corruption in government - the voters are growing more and more impatient with what they view to be elected officials in Springfield who are not only not listening to them, but appear not to care what they think. This is an opportunity to let the people who vote in these elections and who pay the bills to have a say. We should let them have that say. Vote Yes on this. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. President. If the sponsor would yield for a 24  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 question for legislative intent, please.

Senator Cronin, what would be the signature requirement to file petitions to recall a judge?

Why, thank you, Senator Dillard, for asking me that question. Thank you. The -- that question -- because of that - - there have been a few concerns raised regarding the signature requirement for judges. In Section -- subsection (d) of the constitutional amendment - that -- that’s the -- the -- the focus - the provision that has raised some questions. I would like to make it explicitly clear for the Members here today and for the record that any petition to recall a judge shall be signed by at least twenty percent of the electors who voted for the Office of Governor in the preceding election for which that office was on the ballot in that particular judge’s district, circuit or subcircuit. For example, if one thousand ballots were cast in a particular judicial district for the Office of Governor in the last election, a petition to recall a judge from that district would have to be signed by two hundred electors from that district. So the answer to your question is that it depends on the number of votes cast in that judge’s district, circuit or subcircuit for Governor and it would be twenty percent of those votes.

Thank you, Senator Cronin. To the constitutional amendment, if I may, Mr. President. Generally, I’m not a big fan of recalls, but I will tell you over the last month or so, my seatmate, Senator Cronin, who is sort of the father of the recall idea in this Chamber, as well as the Chicago Tribune, have done a lot to at least enlighten me and make me think very deeply about this subject. As it was pointed out by Senator Righter, the Constitution is different than statutes we may pass. It is the document of the people of Illinois and I think the people of Illinois ought to control the major document that runs this State. It’s their Constitution. It’s not the General Assembly’s Constitution. It’s the people’s Constitution and this is very different. And I think the people of Illinois ought to be able to amend it, up or down, this fall. I also had great trepidations with putting the judiciary - and I’m a lawyer - into a recall amendment. The judiciary is different than the Executive Branch or the Legislative Branch. A judge should not have their chain yanked, so to speak, if they make a very difficult but correct decision under the law. But whoever on that side of the aisle came up with using the Judicial Inquiry Board - maybe it was you, Mr. President - I think is -- is a good way. It’s a very good filter, a very high standard. So, as a lawyer, I am comfortable that the judiciary will still have the protections that maybe we in the Legislature and Executive Branch do not deserve. But this is essential. And for me, as somebody who’s been in State government, worked for a couple of governors, for more than two decades, it’s a sad day for 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 Illinois when it has come to this, where we have to ask the people of Illinois to put a recall constitutional amendment in our Constitution. It’s pretty clear, our government is broken, the gubernatorial administration is corrupt, and we got gridlock. And it’s pretty sad that we have to put this on the ballot, but this will give the people of Illinois, this November, a feeling that they once again actually can control their State government. And maybe we’ll get something done down here for the people of Illinois. Thank you, and I urge an Aye vote.

Yes, thank you very much, Mr. President. First of all, I’d like to thank you and congratulate you on the fact that you’re treating Republicans and Democrats alike. I -- I realize that’s only today, but I -- I appreciate that very much. First of all, I -- I, too, want to echo what Senator Brady said, thanking Senator Jones for having the opportunity for us and the courage, I’d say, ‘cause that’s what I was prepared to talk about last time when I was going to speak about this issue, was the lack of courage of allowing us, the Illinois Senate, to vote on an issue such as this. So it looks as though we’re going to have that opportunity and I do want to thank President Jones for that. I -- I want to thank Representative Jack Franks who led the charge in the House. His bill’s not necessarily what’s being heard here today, but it is an option in case this bill does go down. There’s always that opportunity to revisit another piece of -- another constitutional amendment. And I’d also like to -- to say, Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn - he -- I -- those of us who have sat in the Executive Committee and witnessed the debate that took place there, I -- I felt strongly for the way he handled himself. There was a lot of personal attacks. This is obviously not a popular thing among elected officials to be for. He’s been an advocate for this since the beginning. Since he started to get involved in politics, he’s been sincere and consistent about wanting this issue before the people of this State. So I think Pat Quinn certainly needs to be applauded for this effort. And then our colleague over here, Senator Cronin, who introduced this amendment. August 6 of 2007 is when this 30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 recall amendment was introduced. And it was said that Senator Cronin has kind of led the charge on our side and in the Senate, as far as just giving the people the opportunity to be heard. And as I said, I really believed that this was going to be nothing more than a sham, this whole thing. And it still may play out that way, but at least for today and for right now, that’s not necessarily the case. And I think that we should applaud all of our Leaders, including Speaker Madigan, who has now said and has a schedule out that will allow for them to be here over the weekend to take up this amendment as it hopefully passes here in the Senate. So I applaud the Speaker also. I -- I don’t worry about this. I -- I -- some people have got up and -- talking about how this is going to be some sort of an effort just if somebody sneezes or gets up off the wrong bed -- side of the bed that there’s going to be an effort to recall all of us. I -- I don’t think so. I -- I -- we all are -- know our constituents and we do a job, and if we do it properly and we do it right, there’s not going to be any effort to do this to any of us in this -- in this Body or in the House, or even in -- a constitutional officer. This -- and this isn’t necessarily all about the Governor. It isn’t about the Governor necessarily; it’s about just giving the public the right and the opportunity to have a say in how we are going to be governed and who will do that. And if somebody’s not operating properly or not handling themselves in a manner in which most of us would -- would hope that they would, then why not have the -- the ability to recall someone? So I think this is the right thing to do. And I applaud Senator Cronin for -- having the courage to continue to fight for this and bring it forward. Now, I know that there’s 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 been some questions in regard to this version of this constitutional amendment - Senate Joint Resolution, Constitutional Amendment, 70. As you know, we have House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 28 that is in Rules and we still have the opportunity. All we have to do, Mr. President, is act on it on this -- in this Body in the Senate. And our -- our caucus is willing to stay the weekend to make sure that if - - just, in fact -- and if this would go down because of some of the concerns that we’ve heard from the other side primarily about some of the language here, if that’s the case, we’re willing to stay this weekend and to deal with House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 28 to make sure that the people of Illinois have that opportunity and that right to be heard on an important issue such as this. So, Mr. President, if this does fail, we’re here to stay and do the people’s business. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. You know, you say you’re being fair to everybody. You know, I didn’t know what -- what you meant by that, being fair to Republicans and Democrats. You should have -- I wish those statements had been made five/ten years ago when we wanted fairness in this Chamber. I’ve always opposed any recall provisions. And I read the transcripts of the Con Con convention. This issue was thoroughly, thoroughly debated. We have a representative form of government. The people elect us to represent them. Sometimes, especially lawmakers have to make tough, tough decisions. You cannot vote 32  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 what is the most -- on the issues that‘s the most popular. Sometimes you may have to take a -- an unpopular vote. It may be a revenue issue. The late and former Governor Ogilvie had the courage -- had the courage to do what was right for the State of Illinois. As a result, he paid the ultimate price. But he did the right thing. Those individuals, including the Speaker, who was part of the Constitutional Convention debated this issue. I heard my counterpart talk about the Lieutenant Governor. At least the Lieutenant Governor owes the people of the State of Illinois the right to tell the truth. As long as I’ve been here, this is the first time I’ve seen any constitutional amendment calling for a recall. So for thirty years he say he’s for it, but nothing -- he never pushed an initiative. So that’s not being truthful with the people of the State of Illinois. It may be unpopular for the Governor to -- to call for insurance for every citizen of the State of Illinois, but I support that concept. I stick with him on that concept. I believe in early childhood education, so I’m joined at the hip with the Governor on those issues. Now, if it’s unpopular with you, if it’s unpopular with some of the House Democrats, that’s terrible. We -- those are the issues we should be debating. We should come together and do a capital program for the people of the State of Illinois. These are the critical issues we should be dealing with. It may be unpopular with certain folks here down in Springfield, but those issues must be dealt with. Dealing with a constitutional amendment for a recall, be it legislative, be it judges, I didn’t know, I thought we had three branches - equal branches of government - the Judiciary, the Executive, and the Legislative Branch of 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 government. Those who have to practice before the court, now I understand that. But the provision in there as relate to the judiciary, who are elected by the people, and they make some bad decisions - just like everyone else does, they make some bad decisions. They make tough decisions. So if you as a lawmaker, you as the Governor, have to make those tough decisions, which may be unpopular to some, if you’re calling for yourselves and the Executive Branch to be recalled, then why not the judiciary? Why not? The House sponsor of the House Joint Resolution 28, which they were touting as the great, great thing -- no piece of legislation should ever be aimed at any individual. It’s wrong. It was wrong then; it’s wrong now. It should never do that. And you do it to yourselves, then you don’t deserve to be here. It is a issue that -- it may be popular. I ran for election in 1980 on raising property tax for education. There was those who said, “Oh, you can’t do that, ‘cause the voters will be angry.” But if you go out and tell the voters the truth rather than what they want to hear all the time, then you can be more successful in your endeavors. You got two newspapers in Chicago taking opposing views. Sun-Times taking the right view; the Tribune taking the wrong view. Both did editorials on this issue. But the issue before us is whether or not we’re going to have a vote. And I heard all the rhetoric from the Lieutenant Governor and the House sponsor talking about shenanigans in the Senate and all these other things when they went through the due process in the House, and the Senate has gone through the due process here in the Senate on this constitutional amendment. So I don’t concur with some of the remarks made by individuals on the other side of the aisle as relate to praise an individual, 34  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 as it relate to their actions. If the actions were genuinely sincere, when they moved on the action, they would have moved in a manner which gave this Body equal time to deal with it. If -- if the Rules Committee had not let this bill out -- I want to thank my Rules Committee Chairman for doing her due diligence. It’s wrong - it’s wrong for the press to try to criticize her for doing her job. It’s no -- she’s doing the same job that the Rules Committee Chairman did when the former President, Senator Pate -- Pate Philip, was in charge. So let the issue go up. It’s still bad. It’s a terrible thing to do. In a representative form of government we must make tough decisions. You have not made the tough decision. You are opposed to adequately funding our schools. You are opposed to health care for those who need health care. You stood on the Floor and said so. So did the Democrats in the House. So I don’t join with you and them along those lines. Those are the critical issues we should be debating. The Governor wants it. I stand with the Governor for health care for the people of the State of Illinois, and I wish the sponsor of House Joint Resolution 28 and the other Rep who got a note from the Speaker to come over here, I wish they would stand for those Democratic issues instead of playing games about recall. And be careful as to what you put forth. When you go and attempt to dig a grave someone -- for someone else, make sure you dig one for yourselves, ‘cause that’s what happen. I urge a No vote.

Thank you very much, Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen 35  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 of the Senate. Thank you, my colleagues, to a lively and spirited debate. You know, I got to -- I -- I got to tell you, this is not games. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is very, very real. And I would ask that you put your cynicism aside. We’ve all been here for a long time or we’ve been involved in the process enough that there are those that look at this and they have a snicker on their face. This is real. What are we afraid of? Times are changing and we need to change with them. People are not engaged in the process. We are losing a generation of people - young people, not so young people. They’re turned off, they’re frustrated, they’re alienated, they’re disgusted by State government in particular. What are we afraid of? We have a duty to invite the public in. Yes, we are asking for greater scrutiny. Yes, we are inviting the public to hold us to a higher standard, and we should. A Yes vote is for reform. A Yes vote is a demand for responsible, responsive government. And a No vote is to protect the status quo, make no mistake about it. Opponents can hide behind some ivory tower concepts, but State government is hemorrhaging with scandal and corruption. Citizens, taxpayers, schoolchildren - they deserve better. A couple of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle made some remarks I’d like to address. One of my colleagues said, in announcing his opposition, that he’s fearful that we would turn this over to a, quote, “outside entity”, unquote. Well, what’s he talking about? The taxpayers? The voters? Is that the outside entity that we’re -- that you’re afraid of? Another colleague talked about, you know, this isn’t going to be on the ballot till… Wait. Look, if this passes today and this moves along the way it should, by any objective 36  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 standard, this will be on the ballot November of ‘08. Make no mistake about it. Eighteen other states have recall. Most of those states include the judiciary. This rationale that somehow or other this challenges the independence of the judiciary is just -- is -- is a red herring. It’s a rationale. It’s a justification. I’ll -- I’ll hang my hat over here because it’s good, because it gets me off the hook. Well, this is not only necessary, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is essential to the future of State government. We’ve got serious, serious problems in this State. Desperate times demand desperate measures. I ask for a Yes vote.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. Pursuant to Senate Rule 7-9, I would now move to discharge from the Senate Executive Committee further consideration of HJRCA 28 and that 37  STATE OF ILLINOIS 95th GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGULAR SESSION SENATE TRANSCRIPT 152nd Legislative Day 5/1/2008 it be placed immediately on the Calendar of the Order of Constitutional Amendments 1st Reading here in the Senate. Mr. President -- Mr. President, we’ve heard a lot of rhetoric from people on the majority side of the aisle who said that if this one went down that we would get help in moving 28 so that the people would have a voice. We are now asking for that hope.

I was just going to ask for a roll call. I mean, I don’t know, we’ve just been doing the constitutional amendments here. I mean, I don’t think it takes much under advisement. We all know what’s going on and we ought to have a roll call on Senator Righter’s motion.

Thank -- thank you, Mr. President, for recognizing me. Mr. President, I’ve been gone a couple of days, but I know that behind me, I -- I’m pretty sure I heard Senator Righter make a motion and I think that we owe his motion the opportunity to be heard and have a vote on it. Thank you.

Mr. President, there’s no question that you are the Presiding Officer today. Having said that, being at that Chair and the Presiding Officer now does not empower you to disregard the Senate rules. There is a motion before the Body right now. It deserves to be addressed now. I’m appealing to you, Mr. President, and to the Senate President to not only follow your rules, but comply with the word that you gave us, that you would help us move this issue forward. There is a motion on the Floor and I am asking the Presiding Officer to address it in accordance with the Senate rules.